The Planets Bend Between Us
by awesomesausome
Summary: "Things are definitely She thinks it's all probably Sloan's Mac vaguely remembers Sloan insisting on another shot of something called a "Three Wise '" Set sometime not too long after Sloan convinces Mac to attend a bachelorette party with ..
1. You slip into my arms

I don't know where this came from. I sat down to write another chapter of "Girl in the War" and then this popped into my head. And then I needed to make it happen. So it's happening. The title is from the song by Snow Patrol. And yeah. Please let me know what you think, because…yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

The first thing that Mackenzie registers is how fucking bright it is.

And hot.

And damn, things are a little fuzzy, but she's pretty sure that she's woken up on the sun.

Things are definitely fuzzy. She thinks it's all probably Sloan's fault. Mac vaguely remembers Sloan insisting on another shot of something called a "Three Wise Men."

That shot was many things, but wise it was not.

Okay. Mac tries to review the situation.

She's not in New York. This is not her apartment. Her apartment isn't this bright, for one thing, and she grimaces and squeezes her eyes shut. Her head is pounding.

It's probably because of those wise men. Or the tequila that had come before they moved on to shots.

She's in Vegas.

Yes.

Because Sloan was attending a bachelorette party for a friend from college, and somehow convinced Mackenzie to tag along.

"Oh come on, Kenz," Sloan had wheedled. "When was the last time you had a vacation?"

"1997," Mackenzie answered automatically, and then she thought about it for another moment.

It was actually in 2006. She knows because it had been Will who had surprised her with a packed bag and a plane ticket to Belize.

"There are clothes in this bag, right?" she had asked, only half kidding. "Because we will need to leave the room at some point. For sustenance. And maybe some souvenirs." He had kissed her, long and hard, and she had pulled back slightly breathless. "We can skip the souvenirs, but the sustenance is non negotiable."

It had been a great trip. A really, _really _great trip.

"Seriously?" Sloan had asked. "You haven't had a vacation since Clinton was president?"

"It was 2006, actually, I think. Unless you count Pakistan," Mackenzie said, to which Sloan replied,

"I don't."

"Why do you even want me to come?" Mackenzie asked. "Won't you have your college friends there?"

"Her maid of honor is a bitch," Sloan answered. "And I haven't talked to some of those women in years. I want to have fun. I've never been to Vegas before. I need a solid partner in crime. Come on, Kenz. It will be fun!"

It was fun. Had been, at least, until she had woken up, feeling dizzy and wondering if she was going to meet those three wise men again this morning.

She groans, and tries to move, but realizes that she's pinned down.

By an arm.

Oh God.

She rolls over slightly and _there's another person in her bed_, and this person is a veritable furnace, which is possibly why it feels like it's two hundred degrees.

Mac remembers countless mornings like this when she was with Will. The man was her own personal heater during the winter months, and she liked to shove her frozen feet in between his legs when she slipped into bed. He would yelp and she would grin.

"Jesus, Mac!" He would exclaim. "Those things are lethal!"

It takes her much longer than it should to realize that the person radiating heat in her bed _is _Will.

Will Fucking McAvoy. And what the hell had happened the night before? What was he even _doing_ in Vegas?

Bits of the evening began to float back to her. Will showing up with Neal and Don, claiming that they needed a boys weekend away, and that he had forgotten, honestly Mac, that she and Sloan were in Vegas too. And that they were staying at the Bellagio.

Boys weekend my ass, Mackenzie had thought, but it hadn't stopped her from allowing Will and the guys to tag along. Neal had been so excited, babbling on about how Will was funding the trip and how he had never gambled before, and he only had about fourteen dollars in his bank account and if he was really lucky he might be able to turn that into at least forty dollars.

"Dream big, Sampat," Will had clapped him on the back. "Maybe you can turn it into a hundred." But she saw Will slip Neal a hundred to play with, because that was the kind of thing that Will did, even when he was trying to convince everyone that he was the world's biggest asshole.

He wasn't. Not even close, and she had sidled up to him and grinned a sloppy, drunk grin and nudged him with her shoulder.

"I saw that," she confided.

"What?"

"Neal. Money. You're a good guy, McAvoy." They were both incredibly aware of just how drunk she was.

"Nah, encouraging someone to gamble is not generally looked upon as being a good thing," he answered.

"Is Nina upset that you're here in Vegas?" Mackenzie had asked, doing her drunken best to school her features into a look of total innocence. The truth of the matter was that learning that Will was dating Nina Howard had hurt more than Mac was comfortable with, and every time she thought about him with that nitwit, it broke her heart a little bit more.

"I wouldn't think so," Will replied. "We broke up."

"Oh," Mac tried her best to conceal her happiness, but failed miserably. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"No, you aren't."

"No, I'm not," she agreed. "Let me buy you a drink, Will. To help you drown your sorrows." And she had ordered herself another drink while she was at it, and it was shortly thereafter that Sloan had thrown her arms up in the air and cried,

"Shots!"

Not one time in the history of mankind had anything good ever followed that word being shouted.

And now Will is in her bed. _Will_.

Mac runs a hand over her face, and is startled when something cool touches her skin.

It's a ring. On her left hand. And Will turns at that same moment, his own left hand sliding up to cover his face and there's a matching ring.

"Oh," she mutters. "Oh, _shit._"


	2. And you quickly correct yourself

I'm on a roll. I'm also overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter, and so I'm hoping that this chapter lives up to expectations.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

Mac doesn't move for a moment, trying to calm herself down.

She's wearing a wedding ring.

Will's wearing a wedding ring.

She's wearing _Will's _wedding ring.

What the fuck happened last night?

Will's arm is still pinning her down, and it feels good and comfortable and part of her wants to just close her eyes and run with it. She misses Will, misses him like a phantom limb, and he's here, next to her, holding her, and part of her brain is yelling at her not to be an idiot and just enjoy it.

She remembers, sort of, Don suggesting the two of them get married. It was whiskey fueled, and passionate, and she remembers throwing her arms around him and then kissing Will hard on the mouth, in that order.

"You're better together, everyone knows that. You both love each other and you both want to be with the other, and you're just letting dumb shit stop you, so stop letting such dumb shit stop you and just make it official, man," Don had said. "You two make sense, and Mac's sorry, Will, and Will still loves you, Mac, you can tell that just by the way that he looks at you, and it's just stupid. If you can be happy, _be happy_. Stop making things more complicated than they have to be."

"You should definitely get married," Sloan had chimed in. "Can I be your maid of honor?"

"Of course you can," Mac answered, throwing an arm around Sloan's shoulder. "But that depends on whether or not Will wants to marry me."

"I wanted to marry you the day I met you," Will's voice was warm in her ear as he pulled her close to him. His breath was tinged with scotch and his hands were strong and solid on her back. She felt lightheaded and giddy, and Neal had immediately pulled out his phone and Googled the closest wedding chapel, and it all happened very fast.

"I refuse to get married by Elvis," she shouted at Neal, as Will gripped her hand and they made their way through the casino.

"Nothing cheesy," Will chimed in.

"A classy Vegas elopement," Mac added.

All things considered, and though things are a little fuzzy, she remembers most of it pretty well, it _was_ a fairly classy Vegas elopement. When they arrived at the little chapel, Will had clapped a hand on Neal's back and grinned at him.

"Good job, Sampat," he said, and Neal had hung his head slightly at the compliment.

Will shifts next to her, and she lets out a long breath and then shoves him in the shoulder. Hard.

He blinks sleepily at her.

"Mac?" He sits up, running a hand through his hair and looking around the hotel room. "This is not my room."

"No," she confirms. "It's mine." She pauses. "Things are a little fuzzy, and I don't want you to panic, but I think we got married," she states matter-of-factly.

"What?" He glances down at his hand.

"Yeah, I think we had too much to drink last night," Mackenzie states. "No, I _know_ we had too much to drink last night."

"Oh shit."

"That was my sentiment exactly," Mac replies.

"Oh _shit," _he repeats. "This is Don's fault. That stupid speech about being happy." He sighs.

"I think the most important thing to do right now is not to panic," Mackenzie says again.

Seeing Will's terror stricken face makes her want to cry, and she's not entirely sure why that is. This is not the ideal situation, and she _knows _that. Knows it on a intellectual level, but she's wanted to be loved by Will again for so long that she's having a hard time trying to pretend that this is all bad.

"Right," Will says, and he begins to climb out of bed and pull on his jeans. "We can handle this. People get accidentally married in Vegas all the time. It happens. We'll just fix it. We'll just get an annulment when we get back to New York, and that will be that." Mac tugs the blanket closer to her body and blinks away the tears that she's horrified have begun to prick her eyes.

"Right," she repeats. Will pauses, and turns back around to face her.

"It'll be all right, Mac," he says softly. "We made a mistake and we'll fix it."

She's just happy that she is able to wait until he leaves to start to cry.

* * *

Will breathes out a long sigh once Mackenzie's hotel room door shuts behind him.

She had looked so upset about what happened that he needed to get out of there, and fast.

Because here's the thing: Will can hold his liquor. And the night before? Will was many things, but drunk wasn't one of them. Well okay, he had been drunk, but he hadn't been black out drunk. He remembered wanting to marry Mackenzie.

He hadn't been lying when he told Mac that he had wanted to marry her the first day he met her. Mac had been pretty drunk the night before, having historically been terrible at holding her liquor, and Don's speech about being happy had made her break out into a sloppy grin and before Will knew what was happening, her mouth was on his.

"You should definitely get married," Sloan had seconded the idea, and Neal had gone into research mode immediately, and Will knew that Mackenzie was probably too drunk to make a decision like this, but when she looked at him like that, with her eyes wide and hopeful, he had a hard time saying no.

Sloan had pulled her into a boutique wielding Will's credit card, and when Mackenzie emerged a half hour later, she was wearing a beautiful white dress and her eyes looked clear and certain. She had slipped her hand into his and told him that she loved him, always, and they should get married.

The other thing is that Will has been trying to figure out a way to tell her that he loves her and forgives her and Nina Howard was a fucking mistake, and he's sorry, so goddamn sorry, for a couple of months now.

So they had gotten married, and Will hadn't regretted it. They had gotten married, and Sloan had insisted on drinks for everyone to celebrate, and his new bride had fallen asleep against his shoulder, and so he managed to get her awake enough to walk back up to the room where she immediately collapsed into her bed and he had crawled in after her and tugged her close and fallen asleep with the sound of her even breathing in his ear.

He knew it was a possibility that she wouldn't remember exactly what had happened, or that she would regret it, maybe. After all, it _had_ been a rash decision, but he hadn't expected this. She had looked on verge of a breakdown this morning and he wondered if she had been drunker than he had thought last night.

At his room, he took a minute to sit down on the bed and twist the wedding band around his finger. While Mac had gone with Sloan to find a dress, he and the guys had gone to a jewelry store and he had dropped a pretty impressive amount of money on wedding bands for him and Mac. He specifically picked Mac's ring to match the engagement ring still sitting in his locked drawer in his office. The one that he's been picturing on her finger since he bought it, and he understands how fucked that is.

They won't recover from this, he thinks, frustrated.

He's really fucked things up now.

A knock on his door breaks him out of his brooding, and he pulls open the door to find Mackenzie on the other side. She's still wearing the ring, which gives his painful heart a hopeful lurch, but the look on her face stops him.

"We have a problem," she reports, and holds up a copy of TMI. "We made the tabloids last night, Mr. McAvoy."

There, on the front page, is the story that he and Mac were married in the wee hours of the morning, and he wonders how in the hell they got the story so fast.

"This does complicate things," he acknowledges. He doesn't care what they write about him. He doesn't care if he's made to look like an idiot, but he can't stand Mackenzie being dragged through the mud.

"We can't just get an annulment," she says, talking quickly. "We can't, Will. You'll look like an idiot, and we're just trying to get our numbers back up, and the last thing we need is a story to get out that you got drunk and married your EP in Vegas." There's that hopeful feeling back, creeping up on him, and he nods.

They'll stay married, Mackenzie explains apologetically. And when an appropriate amount of time has passed, then they'll get a divorce. Divorced Will is sympathetic, but drunk, impetuous Will is a liability.

He didn't think he'd ever say this, but thank God for TMI.


	3. Your freezing speech bubbles

I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I'm leaving tomorrow, so this will have to tide you over for a week while I sit on the beach and I hopefully upgrade from really pale to only sort of pale. Let me know what you think! And thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

"We'll have to figure out logistics," Mackenzie says as she and Will head down to meet the others for breakfast. Sloan had texted Mac in all capital letters asking what the hell had happened the night before, and why were her pants on backwards?

"The first one needs explained in person, and the second I can't help you with," Mac had written back.

"What do you mean?" Will asks. He presses the button for the elevator, and leans against the wall to look at her.

"Where do we live? We have to live together. It'll look weird if we're married but maintaining separate apartments."

Right. They would have to live together. For a moment he let himself think about how good it would feel to leave work together every evening, arrive home at the same place, wake up every morning and have Mac be the first thing he saw.

He had missed her. He saw her every day and he missed her so much that sometimes it was physically painful.

"My place," he answers automatically, and her eyes narrow.

"Why your place?"

"Because it's nicer."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is," he argues. "It's bigger."

"I have a better view," she shoots back.

"That's arguable," he replies.

"Fine," she crosses her arms and sighs.

"Fine what?"

"I'll move into your apartment. But on one condition."

"I'm a little afraid to ask, but what is it?"

"I get to decorate. Your apartment is cold and impersonal, Will," she says.

"I like it like that," but he doesn't, not really, he liked it when her things were scattered around, when it wasn't so neat and tidy and looked more lived in. When it felt like home.

It hadn't felt like home in years.

Mackenzie waits, and Will sighs.

"Fine."

"Great," she gives him a small smile. "Look at that, we survived our first fight as a married couple!"

Married couple.

The sound of it makes Will's heart speed up. She's his wife. Mackenzie is _his wife_. It's surreal and wonderful, and he has a plan. He has a plan to make sure that it stays that way. That she stays his wife, even after a "reasonable amount of time" has passed. That she stays his wife forever if he can help it.

And okay, the plan isn't fully thought out yet, beyond "keep Mackenzie as Mrs. McAvoy at all costs," but he's getting there.

The elevator dings open and Mac steps inside. She twists the ring around her finger, and he's amazed at how quickly that has become a mindless habit for her.

"Will," her voice is quiet and serious, the way it gets when she's nervous about approaching a topic. "What are we telling them? The truth?" The truth is complicated, he thinks. "They're our friends. Do we lie to them?"

"Maybe we should just play it by ear, see how it goes," Will suggests. She nods, but she looks so flustered that Will can't help it. He grabs her hand and brings it up to his mouth and brushes a kiss across her knuckles. Her eyes widen, and then she smiles, and keeps her hand firmly in his as they step out into the lobby.

* * *

Mac doesn't mind moving in with him. She sort of figured they'd end up at his place, and that was okay by her. She likes his apartment, always has, and what she really wanted was to end up with the right to decorate however she wanted.

Plus, his apartment has a guest room, and hers does not. It's not like they're going to share a bed again, is it? No, that would be ridiculous. This marriage, as much as it pains her to say, is not real.

Only, Mac would give anything to be able to crawl into bed with Will at the end of every day and wake up with his arms around her every morning.

Thank God for TMI, she thought, but would never say that out loud. The annulment would have to be tabled for the moment, and if she had her way the annulment would just never happen.

Will's hand is strong and warm in hers as he leads her to the table where Sloan, Don, and Neal are already sitting. Mac takes a deep breath, as it to steel herself for battle, and then moves towards their friends and co-workers.

"I think you two got married last night," Sloan doesn't waste any time.

"We did," Will confirms. Mackenzie holds up her left hand and wiggles her fingers.

"Holy shit," Sloan breathes out. "Seriously. Holy shit!"

"You guys!" Neal's excited, and he claps Will on the back and beams at Mackenzie.

Mac gives Neal a small smile, and allows herself to be pulled in for a hug by Sloan.

Only Don looks less than pleased, glancing back and forth between her and Will.

"Congratulations, right?" He asks. "Because if it's not a good thing, I need to leave, because I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think I might have been the one to suggest the whole marriage thing." Will gives him a reassuring smile; one that even Mac would believe was sincere if she didn't know better.

"It's a very good thing," he tells Don, picking up her hand and giving it a squeeze.

* * *

Will's phone starts buzzing almost immediately after they all settle down to have breakfast. He glances at the screen and sees Charlie's name and flashes it at Mackenzie as an explanation as he excuses himself from the table.

"You got married?!" Charlie yells as soon as Will answers.

"Hello to you too."

"I have a couple questions for you," Charlie says. "First, what the hell are you doing in Vegas? And two, what the hell is going on?"

"I came to Vegas for a guys weekend, and Mac just also happens to be here with Sloan for a bachelorette party," Will explains calmly.

"Bullshit," Charlie replies. "You followed her out there." Will had no argument. He _had_ followed her out there. She announced that she was accompanying Sloan for a bachelorette weekend in Las Vegas, and Will had panicked slightly. Crazy things happened in Vegas.

People ended up accidentally married in Vegas.

Don had not been a very hard sell. He was equally interested in making sure that Sloan stayed out of trouble, and Neal had just been excited about a free trip.

"Charlie," Will starts to explain but Charlie cuts him off.

"Don't screw this up, Will," he warns. "I'm not sure how much alcohol was involved, and I don't know how you convinced her to marry your sorry ass, but I know that this is the best thing that could have happened to get the two of you to get your heads out of your asses and realize that you both love each other."

"You think she loves me?" Will asks softly and Charlie sighs.

"She married you, you idiot! Of course she loves you. Now, go give your wife a congratulatory kiss from me," and with that Charlie hung up the phone.

His wife.

That was not going to get old any time soon.

When he returns to the table, Mackenzie has ordered his breakfast for him, and it's waiting for him, along with a coffee just how he likes it. He slides into the chair next to her.

"Is everything okay?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"The news is out," he tells her. "He sends his love."

* * *

They have one more night in Vegas, but Sloan tells Mac she's not allowed to come out with the bachelorette.

"You're _not_ a bachelorette," Sloan points out. "Besides, I invited you out here mostly so that you would stop moping about Will and Nina, and clearly that's not an issue anymore." Sometimes Mac isn't sure if she wants to hit Sloan or hug her, and she settles for a hug, knowing that Sloan isn't very good at this whole interacting with other humans thing, and is doing the best she can.

Don tells Will that he and Neal are going to go look for ladies, but Will can read between the lines and knows that means Don and Neal are going to follow Sloan and her friends all over Vegas.

So it ends up just being the two of them, and Will decides if they're going to do this, they're going to do it right, and books them reservations at a nice restaurant and tells Mackenzie to dress in her finery.

He moves his things into her hotel room, because his room was right next to Don's room, and he tells himself and Mac that it won't be awkward.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he gestures to the small couch in Mac's suite and she shakes her head vehemently.

"You will do no such thing," she tells him. "Your back will be killing you. It's fine. It's a big bed. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before. It's fine. We're both adults. It's fine." He would believe it more if she hadn't repeated "it's fine" three times. But he doesn't argue.

He waits for her to finish getting ready for dinner and when she steps out of the bathroom, his breath catches in his throat.

"You look…you look really great, Mac," he says, swallowing hard. She blushes.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Mr. McAvoy," she gives him a smile and he offers her his arm.

There are photographers waiting for them outside of the hotel, and he wraps his arm around Mac's shoulders as he leads her to the car he had ordered. He gives a little wave, and slides in next to her. He knows she hates this part of his celebrity, hates the photographers, hates being the story, and he leans over and presses a kiss to her temple before he really knows he's doing it.

Mac's eyes widen when he pulls away.

"That was good," she says after a beat. "It's good that they got those pictures. It makes it look real."

Will wants it to be real, wants it to be real more than he's ever wanted anything. And for the first time that day, with Mac's fingers tangled in his and Charlie's voice in his head telling him that of course she loves him, he thinks that maybe, just maybe Mac wants it to be real too.


	4. Seem to hold your words aloft

I'm back! And marginally tan. Which is a wonderful surprise! Here's the next chapter. And I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should be up tomorrow (don't hold me to that though. After being away for the week I do have to do things like laundry and grocery shopping, but I'm going to try my darndest. Tuesday at the latest. Pinky swear). Thanks for all the feedback, and keep it coming!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

Dinner is nice.

Mac knew it would be; Will had always been really great at planning dates. She wasn't sure how he did it, but he managed to pick amazing restaurants that she would have never thought to try. He was always good at the details too. He knew how to make a woman feel special.

He had always made Mac feel special, but then she had ruined it. Ruined everything.

Except.

Well. They _were_ married. At least for the time being, and as dangerous as it was, she couldn't help but hope a little bit.

Mac had been drunk the night before, that was for sure. There were too much tequila and too many "Three Wise Men" shots to be anything but pretty drunk.

But she wasn't as drunk as everyone seemed to remember her being. She remembered every detail of the night, every detail of their wedding. And the thing was, she sort of got the impression that Will was also not as drunk as everyone thought he was. He had looked clear and certain about marrying her.

He had just looked less clear and less certain about it that morning.

The confusing part was that he's been touching her all day. Holding hands at breakfast, a guiding hand on the small of her back as they made their way through the crowds, sitting close to her in the car, his shoulder bumping hers as they wind through the streets of Vegas.

She can't figure him out, and it's driving her crazy.

Mac doesn't bring it up at dinner. In fact, for the most part they avoid all potentially awkward topics of conversation at dinner, sticking instead to the show, where they spend all of the first course bickering about whether or not to include a story (Will says yes. Mac says no. But then she smiles a crooked smile, and he gives in, like she knew he would, and that's okay, because she's his wife and that's totally her prerogative. And holy shit, she's his _wife_. Will. She's _Will's _wife.)

They fight a little about who is going to pick up the tab, but Will ends up winning, and then points out,

"What's mine is yours, right?" with a little smile that makes Mac's heart skip a couple of beats.

"Exactly," she replies, swallowing hard. "I married you for money, obviously, and I plan to bleed you dry. You have to keep me in the lifestyle that I've become accustomed to."

"What take-out and shoes? I can handle that," Will smirks.

"Challenge accepted," she shoots back, grinning at him. He leads the way out of the restaurant, correctly assuming that the photographers are still crowded outside to catch a glimpse of the newly married couple. Will keeps a tight grip on her hand as he pushes his way through the crowds. Mackenzie hates this part of his life, hates it with a passion, but she manages to keep a smile on her face and her head up, despite being blinded with flashes.

"Ugh," she says when the door closes behind Will. "How long before we're not the story anymore?" But even as she's saying it, she finds herself hoping that they're the story for a little bit longer. Long enough for her to convince Will that he should stay married to her. Attention means they can't quietly get a divorce. Attention, right now, is good.

"I'm sure they'll be waiting for us in New York," he answers, and Mac feels weirdly happy about that.

"We're not that interesting. _I'm_ not that interesting. Who cares if we got married? Other than your devastated fan girls, of course," she teases. He scoffs.

"I don't have fan girls," he argues. "I'm a serious news journalist." It's Mac's turn to scoff.

"Dear Mr. McAvoy," she mimes. "I just think you're the dreamiest. Will you marry me?" She bats her eyes up at him, and he rolls his eyes.

"I've only gotten a couple of proposals," he says. "But so far, I've only been married once." And he slips an arm around her shoulder and gives it a squeeze, and suddenly Mac can't breathe.

So far. So far she's the only one who has managed to trick the great Will McAvoy into marriage. And it's the so far that kills her. That steals the hope right out from under her. His tone is teasing, but Mac can't help but get hung up on those two words. So far.

She manages a chuckle, and the rest of the short ride to the hotel is silent.

* * *

Will said something wrong.

He knows it; he's just not sure what it was.

They were having a great time. Even with the intrusion of the photographers, they were laughing and joking and it was just like old times. He was teasing her about shoes, and she was teasing him about his fan girls.

She did always love to tease him about his fan girls. Mackenzie was never one to be jealous or suspicious. He hadn't been either, right up until the moment that she confessed. If she never had told him, he would never have known. He would have never even considered the possibility that she might not be faithful. Will had a blind trust in Mac.

He pushes the thought of Mac with Brian out of his mind. Because despite her blowing his faith in her in a spectacular fashion, he loves her.

He goddamn loves her.

And now he's said or done something and it's awful, because he loves her. And he wants to go back to laughing and teasing, because the two of them do such a depressingly small amount of teasing and laughing with each other.

He tried to tread lightly, even mentioning the marriage didn't make Mackenzie clam up, but something did, and now she's sitting staring out the window, and he's desperate to fix whatever it was that he did.

They pull up in front of the hotel, and there's another gaggle of photographers waiting for them. He can see Mac steel herself, and he hates that he's doing this to her. She gives him a wan smile, and he slides out first, reaching a hand out for her to take. The look she flashes him as she steps out is grateful, and he congratulates himself on getting that right at least.

The ride up to their room is quiet, and he can tell Mac is thinking about saying something, she has that look that she gets when she's building up the courage to say something she thinks he might not like.

He's unfortunately seen it before, and the fall out from what she had to say was brutal. Whatever it is, it's going to change his life, he just knows it.

And the evening was going so well too.

* * *

Mac could cut the tension between the two of them with a knife. They don't say anything as they make their way to the room they are now sharing, and she thinks that it might be her fault.

She just hates the idea that she might be Will's first wife, because that implies there might be wives after her, and damn it, she wants to be Will's _only _wife. Forever, and all that.

And she wants to tell him that, because he's behaving like maybe he wants her to be his one and only wife, and if that's the case then they should certainly start behaving like they are married. Will looked extra kissable during dinner, and she's not sure how much longer she can go without pressing her lips to his and shutting him up the best way she knows how.

The door closes behind them and Will is heading towards the mini bar to pour them both a well deserved drink when the ring feels too heavy on Mac's finger and she can't help but blurt out,

"I wasn't as drunk as I think you think I was." That's not exactly what she wanted to say, but it's close enough, and it's enough to freeze Will in his movements.

"I'm not sure I followed that," he says, and she sighs.

"I wasn't _that_ drunk last night," she tries to explain. "When Don suggested we get married. I was drunk, sure, those shots were brutal. I told Sloan not to order them, but that's not the point, the point is that I wasn't as drunk as I think you think I was. I think you think that I didn't have all my wits about me when I married you, and you're wrong. I knew what I was doing. I _wanted _to marry you, Will."

There. She said it. Cat's out of the bag now. But the next point is even more important, and now that she's began talking she can't stop. She takes a deep breath and says,

"I want to be married to you, Will. For real. For good."


	5. I want the smoky clouds of laughter

Ugh. After Sunday I needed to release some frustration in the form of some nice fluff. So this is longer than I intended. I firmly believe that Aaron Sorkin will make everything better in the finale (he better). In other, better, non-television news, my hometown team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, are officially having the first winning season since 1992. Go Buccos! We've waited a long time for this (21 years to be precise). Anyway, hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Things would be much different if I did.

* * *

Will doesn't say anything for a long minute, and in that time Mackenzie swears she might actually die.

"You want to be married to me?" He finally clears his throat and asks, and she can't speak, all her words have dried up, but she manages to nod, and before she knows it, his mouth is on hers, his arms wrap tightly around her, and she's taken aback for a moment. When they finally pull apart, she looks up at him and says,

"I take that to mean that you want to be married to me, too?" And he laughs a little, tucking a piece of her hair back behind her ear and nodding emphatically.

"Yes, you have no idea how much, yes," he replies. He pauses, and his face looks serious, and Mac is worried for a second. "Mac, I need to tell you what that message said."

"Oh," she gives a wave of her hand and a small smile. "You don't. Nina told me what it said."

"She did?" He looks confused.

"Yeah, the night I called her to thank her for doing the right thing, I asked her if she remembered what the message said, and she told me." Will raises a suspicious eyebrow. He can't believe that all this time Mackenzie knew that he was still in love with her and didn't say anything. Sure, here they were, married in Vegas, but she had seemed too unsure about his feelings to have known what he said in that message. If she knew he had told her that he still loved her, there was just no way she would have been so nervous about the ring on her finger and what it meant to him.

It meant everything. And he needed to be sure she knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"What exactly did she tell you?" He asks.

"She said you told me that I had done a great job the night of the Bin Laden broadcast. Why?" Mac's eyes narrow. "Was that not what you said?"

"No," Will shakes his head. "That's not what I said. Well, I did say that, but that's not all that I said." He presses another kiss to her lips, because he can, and sits down on the bed, tugging her hand so that she's sitting next to him. "I should have told you this months ago. A year ago, actually. But I'm an idiot, which I know you know. And I'm a coward. Mac, I told you in that message that I still loved you. And I asked you not to say anything if you didn't still love me back, and when you didn't say anything..."

"Oh Billy," Mackenzie breathes out. "How could you even think?" She shakes her head; things are starting to make sense. Will bringing in Brian now makes sense. He was trying to punish her for not loving him back. She wants to be angry, she _is_ a little angry. But she's angriest at Reese and at Nina Howard. They wasted so much time, and hurt each other so much more than they needed to. If only she had heard the message. She could have told him that she still loved him, of course she did. She would always love him.

"I brought Brian in to hurt you," he admits. She nods, and stands, wrapping her arms around her middle. "And Jesus, Mac, I'm so sorry. When I found out that you hadn't heard the message, I felt like such an asshole." Mac's still standing away from him, and he wants to reach out and pull her close to him again, but he knows that's not what she wants or needs right now.

Mac wonders how she could have gone from so blissfully happy to so confused and angry in such a short amount of time.

"Mac?" He asks tentatively.

"Damn Nina Howard," she finally says, her voice rough, and before she can say anything else, Will is on his feet, tugging her into his arms and holding her tightly. He knows that he has his part to blame in this whole mess, and he's so unbelievably sorry.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into her hair. "But I needed you to know. I needed you to know that I've loved you for so long that I don't remember a time when I didn't. I loved you even when I hated you. And I'll always love you. That's what I realized. I realized that I could hold onto a grudge, or I could have you, and Mac, I want you. And I'm sorry about Brian fucking Brenner. I should have never…you didn't deserve…I'm such a fucking idiot."

Mac tilts her head up to look at Will. Her eyes are glassy, and he wants to kick himself for ruining what would have been the most perfect, romantic moment of his life. But he needed her to know. They were married. He wasn't fucking around anymore. He was all in.

"I wish you have just told me what was on the goddamn message the first three hundred times I asked you," she finally says with a slight smile, and he kisses her, hard, and she threads her fingers through his hair and responds with everything she has.

"I'm an idiot," he repeats.

"You're my idiot," she tells him. "My idiot husband."

* * *

The second morning finds Mac waking up wrapped around her new husband, but she doesn't panic. Instead she runs her fingers along his bare back, and kisses his shoulder. She sees him grin into the pillow and then blink open his eyes a couple of times.

"We have to go back to New York today," she pouts.

"We can take a honeymoon," he suggests. "Name the place and I'll make the arrangements."

"Mmm, Greece?" She mutters against his lips, and he kisses her and shrugs. "Or Fiji? Somewhere warm." He's paralyzed momentarily by the vision of Mackenzie in a tiny little bikini.

"Wherever you want, dear," he answers.

"Keep that up," Mac grins. "That'll help this marriage survive for sure." Will laughs lightly and trails a line of kisses up her neck.

"We could just stay in Vegas," he offers. "Not leave this room for a week." Mac crinkles her nose at the idea.

"No thanks," she says. "I've had enough of Vegas."

"Oh come on, Mac, it's really starting to grow on me," Will teases. "Plus you do understand the barrage of phone calls and emails and messages we're going to get as soon as we get back? I'm afraid to look at my phone. There's probably no shortage of people waiting to yell at us for not telling them we were back together." Mac groans; he's right. She can only imagine what her mother is going to say when she finally talks to her. She can practically hear her mother's disapproval in her head. Her father will take it in stride, but her mother is going to be so disappointed that she missed her opportunity to stick Mackenzie in a white dress.

"My parents are going to want to throw us a reception," Mac warns him.

"Okay," Will says easily.

"It's going to be awful, and stressful, and full of people we don't really like," Mac continues.

"Okay," Will answers.

"Why aren't you concerned?"

"I don't care about anything beyond the fact that you're in this bed with my ring on your finger," he replies. The world could implode, and Will would still be blissfully happy. But the word ring stopped him. They had talked about the message the night before, and while Mac had been more understanding than he would have been if the situation was reversed, she still hadn't been happy. He didn't want them to start out their marriage without disclosing all important information, but he knew that if he told her that he bought the ring to hurt her, she would be, well, _hurt_.

He kisses her, and then picks up her hand and kisses her ring.

"I'm going to have to try to adopt your laissez-faire attitude," Mac smiles at him, looping her arms around his neck and kissing him soundly.

He'll tell her about the ring later, he decides, as she slides her legs in between his. She was going to be angry, and he wanted to keep this moment pure. He'd tell her when they got back to New York, when reality descended upon them.

For now, there was just her and this giant bed, and hours before they had to catch their flight.

* * *

Sloan gives Mac a knowing look when she and Will appear a few hours later in the lobby.

"You skipped breakfast," Sloan smirks and Mac blushes, but can't bring herself to feel badly about it.

"Yes we did," she answers. "How was your night?"

"I'll bet it wasn't nearly as fun as yours," Sloan replies. "But it was fine. I lost some money, but Neal won and did an actual cartwheel in the middle of the casino. I thought they might ask us to leave."

"Congrats, man," Will tells Neal clapping him on the back.

"I won rent money for the next three months," Neal beams. "I love Vegas. I love this trip. I love all of you."

"I think he might be still drunk," Don says.

"Drunk on life, my good man," Neal shoots back. Will slips an arm around Mac's shoulders and she leans into him.

"You guys are cute," Sloan speaks up as the car pulls up to the curb. "It's weird, obviously, seeing the two of you in harmony instead of fighting, but it's a good weird. I like it." She moves to get into the car and Mac grins up at Will.

"I like it too," she tells him. Back, before, when they were together, they had a pretty strict no public affection rule at the office, and she was sure they would implement that again, but these guys weren't here as co-workers, they were here as friends, and Mackenzie loved being able to kiss Will and hold his hand. For six years she had to pull back, restrain herself, and now she had the freedom to show just how much she loved him.

It was wonderful.

They climb into the van behind Sloan, with Neal still jabbering on about how amazing Vegas and life were, in that order. Will kept his hand in Mac's the whole drive to the airport, knowing that things were going to be crazy when they arrived back home, and he should take full advantage of the momentary peace.

After going through security, it occurs to both Will and Mac that they have separate seats on the plane.

"It's a long flight," Mac whines, and Will kisses her forehead and promises to try to do something about it. He knows that their seats won't be too far apart, first class isn't all that big, but he still gets where she's coming from, and he wanders over to where Don is nursing a drink in the corner of the lounge, and takes a seat next to him.

"I have a favor to ask," Will starts.

"Mac and I can switch seats," Don answers before Will can even ask.

"Thanks," Will begins to stand, but thinks better of it, and drops back into the seat. "You okay?" Don hesitates for a moment, squirming slightly in his seat.

"Sloan and I had...we had a moment," he explains. "It was odd. Nice, but odd."

"You know if you switch with Mac, you'll be next to Sloan for the next four hours or so, are you okay with that?"

"I would like to have more of those nice, odd moments," Don replies. "You're happy, right?"

"Yes," Will answers without having to think about it. For the first time in years, six actually, he can honestly say that he's happy. "It's worth summoning the courage. Trust me." Don nods, swirling his drink around and looking thoughtful.

"I'm glad I suggested it. You know, you two eloping. It was the right thing to do. Skip the bullshit, just be happy," Don tells him, looking up at Will. "You two make sense."

"I'm glad you suggested it too," Will says, and he knows Don has no idea how much he means that. "And thanks, I'll tell Mac you're switching."

"Just, do me a favor, don't try to join the Mile High Club on the way home, I don't need to have that image in my head for four hours," Don requests.

"Join? How do you know we're not already members?" Will smirks as he walks away and hears Don groan behind him.

* * *

Mac falls asleep almost immediately after takeoff. Will doesn't blame her; there wasn't a lot of sleep being had the night before, and he tucks a blanket around her and drops a kiss onto the forehead resting against his shoulder.

He doesn't sleep well on planes. He never has. Instead he spends the time thinking. About Mac. About their quick marriage. About telling her about the ring. About making sure she knows that he tore up the receipt because he always knew that it would end up on her finger, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself at the time. Buying the ring, just like hiring Brian, was a terrible decision born out of his need to even the score with her, and he's not proud of that. And now that they're together again, _married_ to boot, he needs to try to make amends for being such a total and complete ass.

She paid her dues. She took his punishments in stride, and he's so goddamn lucky to have her.

She stirs next to him, and he runs a hand through her hair and presses another kiss to her temple. He can see two rows ahead of them, Don and Sloan's heads bent together as they have an intense conversation, and he hopes that Don gets it together and just asks her out already. Watching them dance around what they're feeling is frustrating, and he realizes that must be how people feel about him and Mac.

Felt. Past tense. Because they're married. They figured it out. Everyone, especially Charlie, can now get off his back.

The pilot announces they're about to descend, and he gently shakes his wife awake so that she can put her seat back into the right position. Mac blinks at him, and her voice is warm and drowsy with sleep.

"Are we almost home?" She asks. They've already established that when they land, they'll stop by Mac's old apartment (Will has already started calling that in his head. Her old apartment. As in past. As in she lives somewhere else. She lives with him.), and pick up some things for her, pack a few bags, and head back to his, no_ their_, apartment. He's already hired movers to pack up the rest of her things, and has promised her full use of his black Amex to buy all new furniture.

"We definitely need a new bed," she told him, crinkling her nose.

"Why? My bed's great," he argued.

"Nina has slept there. You slept with Nina there,"was all Mac needed to say, and Will sighed and nodded.

Nina.

He kind of hates himself for dating Nina. Especially considering her role in the whole voicemail fiasco. Nina is the direct opposite of Mackenzie, which is what drew him to her in the first place. He should have known going in that was a mistake.

"We're almost home," he confirms, and she smiles at him.

"Can we hole ourselves up and not leave until we absolutely have to?" She requests.

"Absolutely," he answers, kissing the tip of her nose.

* * *

Photographers are waiting at the airport when they land, and now that Mac has no reason to want them around, she's even more irritated by their presence.

"Ugh," she groans, and Will kisses her temple, which she's sure is caught on film by at least ten different photographers.

"Come on," he says, pulling on her hand and pulling her into a waiting car.

"I hate being the story," she complains.

"It'll die down," he promises. She mumbles something incoherent, and he tugs her closer and tangles their hands together. Will's phone rings as soon as they reach the city, and he sees Charlie's name.

"Hey, Charlie," he answers.

"You and your wife make it back okay?" Will grins at the word wife.

"We're in the car now," he says.

"And you haven't screwed this up yet?"

"Not yet," Will confirms.

"Good. Don't come in tomorrow."

"Charlie," Will starts.

"Will, you're a newlywed. Spend the day with your new wife. Don't come in. We'll handle it. We'll see you on Tuesday." With that Charlie hangs up.

"We're not to come in tomorrow," he tells Mac. "Non-negotiable."

"I wish I could say I was upset about that," she says with a grin. "But that's just fine with me."


	6. To swim about me forever more

Suddenly this story isn't as far fetched as it once was! I'm feeling all happy and fluffy right now. But I really want an official renewal to ease my mind (I know that Jeff Daniels tweeted that it was official, but then HBO came back and was all like, "we're excited about proceeding to a season 3" which isn't exactly a total confirmation, but then on the HBO website under the Newsroom HBO Connect tab the question to tweet about is "What do you hope will happen on next season?" or something like that. So I'm confused. And I'd really just like one hundred percent confirmation, please, HBO.) Thanks for reading, as always, and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

* * *

It doesn't take long for Will's apartment to become _their_ apartment.

They stop and pack up some things that Mac needs for the next few days at her old place before heading back to Will's apartment.

Mac insists that Will changes the sheets at the very least, since the new bed won't be delivered until the next day, and then she crawls under the covers and doesn't leave for close to 24 hours with the exception of showering (with Will. And oh, God, how she missed their shared showers. "I'm too old for this, Mackenzie," Will had complained, but she caught the corners of his mouth tugging upwards, and she quieted him with a long, hard kiss and she didn't hear any other complaints from him), eating (take-out exclusively, because although Will can cook, he doesn't want to leave the bed long enough to do so, and she doesn't want him to either), and going to the bathroom (where she finds a box of cosmetics and toiletries she had left when she had hurried out of there all those years ago, pleading with Will as he shut down and told her that he never wanted to see her again. She began to cry when she found the box, tucked away under the sink, and Will had moved the box from her hands and kissed her soundly).

When they finally emerge into the world of the living, Mac feels like a new person. And she _is_ a new person. She's Mackenzie McHale McAvoy. She likes to say it out loud, even though it's hard to say, likes to hear what it sounds like rolling off her tongue and the feel of the words in her mouth. She likes when Will says it too, pulling her to him under the covers and whispering, "Mrs. McAvoy" into her neck.

The newsroom erupts when they walk in, everyone standing and clapping, and Mac drops her head and blushes, but rushes into Charlie's arms.

"It's about damn time," he says with a grin, and she giggles.

"You aren't kidding," she replies. She spies Will standing with Jim, the two with their heads bent together, looking as if they are having a serious discussion, and she catches his eye and smiles, and he smiles back before gesturing to her to Jim, who looks up and nods.

Jim comes sauntering over, his hands shoved in his pockets, glancing up at her through the hair that Mac has been telling him needs to be cut for months, and giving her a soft smile.

"Congrats, Mac," he says quietly, and she slips into his arms and gives him a tight squeeze.

"Thanks," she whispers.

"I'm really happy for you," Jim's voice is sincere. "But I told him that if he hurts you, I'll kick his ass." And Mac laughs at this, a watery laugh, as she tightens her arms around him.

"You're a good man, Jim Harper," she tells him as she pulls back. "Someday you will get your own drunken, Vegas wedding."

"One can only hope," Jim smirks at her, before releasing her so that Tess and Tamara can corner her to get all the juicy details.

* * *

Will is exhausted by the end of their first day back, and is more than ready to get the hell out of there after he goes off the air. He just wants to take his wife and get home. They should have taken the week off, he decides, as he walks towards Mac's office to gather her and her things.

She's leaning back in her chair, her head tipped, her eyes closed, and he clears his throat and she smiles, but doesn't open her eyes.

"I'd really like that trip to Greece now," she says.

"I'm working on it," he promises, and he is. He's already contacted his travel agent and has him working out the flight schedule and the hotel arrangements.

He drops his hand into his pocket and feels the small, square box there. She deserves this ring on her finger, and before his courage can fail him, he pulls it out and sets it on the desk in front of Mackenzie.

"Mac?" He calls and she finally opens her eyes.

"Yes?"

"This ring belongs to you," he says, pushing it towards her. Her eyes widen. "But I have a confession to make. I want us to start out completely secret-free. It's important that everything be out in the open. And I know you're tired, and this is probably the wrong time to do this, but this ring belongs to you and it should be on your finger, but before it can get there, there are a couple of things you need to understand." Mac nods, looking slightly terrified, and Will takes a deep breath and continues,

"I bought this ring for you, but I didn't buy it years ago. I bought it when you had the team doing opposition research. I knew you'd find out about the job offer and you would come in here waving your arms and insisting that it proved I was never serious about you and our relationship, and I bought the ring to shut you up."

"You…bought the ring that afternoon?" Mac stutters. "To hurt me?"

"No! Yes," Will sighs. "I just…I was serious, Mac. I was. I didn't need a ring to tell me that I was ready to marry you. I was going to buy a ring, but I hadn't gotten around to it. I told Dr. Habib about the ring and I told him that I sent Scott's assistant down to buy it, but that was a lie. I went down and I bought a ring that I knew you would love. I bought a ring that you had described to me once, and I bought it for _you_. I ripped up the receipt that day, because I never had any intention of taking it back. I never had any intention of that ring ending up anywhere but on your finger."

Mac is quiet. Will hates quiet Mac.

"Mac," his voice is pained. "I'm sorry. I'm sorrier than you'll ever know. I'm an ass, and I know that, but I'm an ass that loves you. Completely. Ridiculously. Please, say something."

"The ring is beautiful," Mac finally says, and when she looks up at him, he can see that she's begun to cry, and the only thing that he hates more than a Quiet Mac is a Crying Mac, and he scrambles to do damage control.

"I'll buy you a new ring," he says quickly. "If you don't want this one. I picked it out for _you_, but I bought it under false pretenses, and if you want a different ring, I'll make that happen." He's aware that he's babbling. But Mac is still crying, and he doesn't know how to fix this.

He's only been married a few days, and he might have already ruined it. That's got to be some kind of record.

"No," she speaks up, her voice breaking slightly. "No. It's a beautiful ring."

"Mac," he says again, and she shakes her head. She picks up the box and opens it, pulling out the ring and staring at it for a long moment.

"It's a beautiful ring," she repeats. She holds the box out to him. "Can you?" And Will nods, a lump in his throat making it difficult for him to speak, and his hands shake as he slides the ring onto her finger. She studies it for a moment on her hand.

"Can we go home?" She asks.

"Yeah," he says, and she takes the hand that he reaches out to offer her, and he lets out a sigh of relief.

* * *

"We're going to need a couple of weeks," Will tells Charlie the next day. Mackenzie seems to have forgiven him, after he spent the night worshiping her body and reassuring her that he was aware that he was an idiot, and he was sorry, so goddamned sorry, about the ring.

"Where are you taking your new bride?" Charlie asks with a grin, and Will can see how big of a kick Charlie is getting out of the two of them eloping in Vegas.

"Greece and Croatia," Will replies. "And you will be the only one who has any idea how to get a hold of us. I want us off the grid. I want Mac to have two weeks where she doesn't have to worry about anything."

Will knows that Mac has been exhausted lately. She's not twenty-something like the rest of the staff, and she can't keep up with them quite like she used to. She's tired, and he wants to hole up with her in a beautiful hotel room and not leave. Forget about the newsroom, forget about the photographers camped out in front of their apartment and the office building, forget about all of it.

"I will only call you in the event of an apocalypse," Charlie promises. "Although I can't imagine you'll bring yourself to care about that very much." Will shakes his head with a grin.

"No, I can't imagine I will," he agrees. "We're leaving tonight after the show. I haven't told Mac yet." Charlie raises an eyebrow at this.

"I'll take care of everything here," he assures Will. "Get Mackenzie and get the hell out of here."

* * *

Will's not sure how Mac will take the surprise. He has a bag packed for her, and the two plane tickets in his briefcase, and he finds her in her office going over some paperwork. She glances up and smiles at him.

"Hey," she says. "What's going on?"

"I went to talk to Charlie about us taking some time off," Will begins.

"Oh yeah?"

"We're going to need a honeymoon," Will explains. "I promised you Greece, and I'm delivering." It was even more important to him to make it happen after the whole ring fiasco. He needed a big gesture, something to reassure Mackenzie that she wasn't making a mistake by staying married to him.

"When are we leaving?" Mackenzie's eyes lit up.

"Tonight."

"Tonight?!" She screeched, her eyes widening. "Will, I can't possibly..."

"You can," he tells her, going over and sitting on the desk in front of her. "It's all taken care of. Sloan is going to fill in for Elliott, Elliott's going to fill in for me, and I have a bag packed for the both of us sitting in my office. The plane leaves tonight and we'll land in Athens in the morning." She's quiet for a moment, and he wonders if he's somehow screwed _this_ up too, before her face breaks into a wide smile and she's nodding enthusiastically.

"Yes," she says, standing and moving between his legs. "Get me the fuck out of here, Billy."


	7. I will race you to the waterside

This is just pure, unabashed fluff. Sorry I'm not sorry.

* * *

Mac's asleep before they even leave the runway, her head resting on Will's shoulder, her breathing even.

Their team had cheered when they announced that they were leaving for a honeymoon and would be back in two weeks, and no one was to contact them for any reason. Don had even wolf-whistled, and Mac had blushed a deep crimson, but couldn't keep the grin off her face.

When the show ended, Will had practically sprinted from the desk, ripping off his tie and jacket as he went. He changed in record time, grabbing his bag and then going to collect his wife from her office. She had been standing in front of the bag that he had packed for her, marveling that he managed to get it right.

"I don't think you've forgotten anything," she told him.

"I've done this before," he grinned at her. She suddenly remembered the surprise trip to Belize, and her smile deepened. If _this_ trip was anything like _that_ trip, then she was really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. She moved towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a long kiss. He buried his hands in her hair, and the only thing that made him pull back was when he remembered the time crunch they were under to get to the airport on time.

* * *

He had breathed out a sigh of relief when the plane took off, brushing a kiss to Mackenzie's hairline and relaxing into the leather seat for the long flight. He knew that she was exhausted, and he was happy to let her sleep as long as she could. He pulled out a book and spent the flight catching up on reading.

Mackenzie barely stirs until they land hours later, blinking up at Will and looking adorable and rumpled.

"I slept the entire flight?" She asks, surprised.

"You did," Will confirms, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "I think you needed it."

"I _needed_ this vacation too," she tells him, reaching up and kissing the underside of his jaw. "So thank you." And God, did she. Before Vegas she was operating on coffee and naps, and she was starting to feel it. She had taken Sloan up on the offer for a girls' weekend partly because she had desperately needed to get out of the city for a little while.

Mackenzie isn't sure what to expect, but she's still blown away by what Will has planned. After a short flight from Athens to Mykonos, they arrive at the villa that Will has rented, and it's so beautiful that for a moment she's breathless. She's been many places, and seen so many incredible sights, but she's not immune to any of it, and for that she's grateful. She squeezes Will's hand as the driver carries in their bags, and he responds by dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

Once Will has tipped the driver, and the driver is gone, Mac squeals and throws herself at her husband, who, though startled, manages to catch her.

"I take it this is acceptable?" He teases, and she hums against his lips, kissing him senseless instead of replying.

When she finally pulls back, breathless and lips swollen, she takes the opportunity to explore their villa with incredible views of the Aegean.

"It's paradise," she murmurs, standing on the balcony and feeling Will come up behind her and slide his arms around her waist.

"I asked for the most private villa they had," Will confesses. "It's a little big, but…" It _was_ a little too big for just the two of them, but Mac appreciated the privacy.

"We'll just have to make sure we christen each and every bedroom," Mac grins, leaning back against him. "Twice." She feels Will's laughter, as he drops his head and buries it in the side of her neck.

"I'm one hundred percent on board with that idea," he assures her. "One hundred percent."

* * *

Mac wakes up before Will, his arms wrapped tightly around her. The door to the balcony off the master bedroom is open, and the sound and smell of the sea waft in, and she's so damn content that she burrows down deeper in the covers and sighs.

The villa came with a private chef, who had cooked them dinner and left a quiche that just needed to be popped in the oven for breakfast, and they had eaten out on their private patio overlooking the sea the night before, popping champagne and toasting to years of promised happiness.

After the chef and his staff had cleaned up and left, Mac suggested trying out their private pool, and Will had quickly agreed, shedding his clothes and diving into the salt-water pool.

It had been, in a word, perfect, and the next two weeks stretched out before her looking just as wonderful and fulfilling.

She was never going to want to go home, she knew it already. The second of their weeks was going to be spent on the coast of Croatia, and she had a feeling that Will probably, once again, has outdone himself.

She feels Will wake next to her, and she rolls over to kiss him, morning breath be damned.

"Good morning," he murmurs. "What should we do today?" And she replies by sliding her hands down his back and pulling him close for a kiss.

"I was thinking a little of that," she says with a sly smile.

"Sounds fine to me," he answers. "Let me just throw breakfast in the oven. You stay here." He drops a kiss to her bare shoulder, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and pausing in the doorway to drink in the image of her, stretched out on the massive bed, and waves a finger at her, "Seriously. Don't move. Not a muscle, Mac," before slipping out the door.

"We could skip breakfast," she calls, and he pokes his head back in for a moment.

"No, no way, you need to have energy for the things I plan for us today," he insists, disappearing back down the hall.

* * *

He catches her watching the news when he steps out of the shower. Mac scrambles for the remote to turn off the television, but she's not fast enough.

"I saw that," he tells her, coming into the bedroom.

"I can't help it, I needed to see what was happening, and since you took away my phone," she starts.

"For good reason," he cuts in. "It's supposed to be just me and you. No distractions."

"Not knowing what's going on _is_ distracting," she mutters, and he takes the remote from her hand and with a smile, turns back on the news, kissing the top of her head as he changes his clothes. She smiles back, watching a few minutes before changing herself into a bathing suit, pulling a sundress over top.

Will had arranged for a yacht tour on the sea that afternoon, and as they were leaving the villa, he pulled out a floppy hat that he had bought for her, dropping it on her head with a grin.

"You really did think of everything," Mac marvels once again. Will doesn't say anything, just extends his hand which she takes happily, as he tugs her towards the waiting car.

* * *

Greece is wonderful and relaxing, the yacht tour is romantic and private, Mac becoming slightly drunk on the champagne provided for them, and they spend the rest of the evening holed up in their villa, making good use of the many bedrooms and the Jacuzzi tub in the master suite.

The rest of that first week flies by.

They drink too much, and eat too much, and spend hours every day making love to the sounds of the sea lapping against the shore.

Mac is so full of happiness that she thinks she might actually explode. She touches the smile that hasn't left her face all week, and thinks that this is really her life. She's married to Will. She's _married_ to Will.

She reminds herself to bring something amazing back for Sloan to thank her for dragging her to Vegas in the first place.

She catches Will sometimes with a look of disbelief on his face, one that she's sure mirrors her own, and when she spots it, she reaches for his hand and gives it a squeeze to reassure both of them that it's real.

* * *

They catch a short flight to Dubrovnik, and the hotel suite that Will booked them for the week is just as beautiful as the villa in Mykonos had been.

They do a little more sightseeing in Croatia, pulling themselves away from bed for longer stretches of time, but staying later in the night to make up for lost time and reacquaint themselves with each other's bodies. Will spends night after night mapping the contours and planes of Mackenzie's body, promising himself that he'll do everything in his power to make sure she never goes anywhere without him again.

She was right, and when the night before their flight home rolls around, she doesn't want to leave. She's missed everyone, and even missed the chaos of the newsroom, but she loved their time away. She was only too aware of what they were returning to.

"I hope the interest in our marriage has died down," she tells Will as they eat dinner their last night, tucked away in a tiny restaurant, candles on the table and a bottle of wine nearly drained.

"It probably hasn't," Will replies, shrugging. The paparazzi has never bothered him; he doesn't give a damn what they write about him, but Mackenzie is off limits. Their marriage is off limits. It bothers him that it bothers her.

"That's optimistic," Mac mutters, reaching over and stealing a bite of his fish. "Can't we stay here forever?"

"We could, sure," Will answers. "We could just eat and drink and live on the sea. Maybe I could be a fisherman. I could do that."

"You liar, you'd miss the news too much," Mac smiles.

"So would you," he points out.

"So would I," she acknowledges. "But I have enjoyed these weeks."

"You and me both, sweetheart," he picks up her hand and brushes a kiss along her knuckles. "But let's not talk about that. Let's enjoy our last night. We'll have plenty of time to worry about what we're coming home to on the flight tomorrow."

And Mac is too full of good food, and wine, and far too happy, to let herself really worry about what they were coming home to.

After all, they were coming home to it together, and that made all the difference.

* * *

When they land in New York, Mac lets out a sigh.

"We're home," he says, grabbing her hand as the plane pulls up to the gate.

"Yes," she says, giving his hand a squeeze and dropping her head to his shoulder for a moment. "We're home."


	8. It's all for you

This is it! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I feel so accomplished when I finish a story. I think I deserve a cookie. Or a slice of pie. Or a drink. Or all three.

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own the characters.

* * *

The first thing that Mac registers is how fucking bright it is.

She groans when the sunlight hits her face, and she hears her husband chuckle behind her.

"Vegas is too damn bright," she complains, rolling over and burying her head in Will's chest.

"You were the one who insisted we come here to celebrate our anniversary," Will's voice is muffled, his nose buried in her hair, and she slides her hands over his back and he responds by pulling her closer.

"I thought it would be romantic," Mac replies. "I didn't take into consideration how bright it was."

"You also didn't remember how brutal those 'Three Wisemen' shots were either," Will reminds her, brushing her hair back from her face.

"Sloan's fault," Mac moans.

"Why did we invite her again?"

"Don wanted to propose," Mac says, rolling onto her back as Will readjusts to keep his arms around her.

"He did more than propose," Will smirks.

"Copycats," Mac grins at him. "We did it first. We made eloping in Vegas cool."

"Think Sloan's parents will force her to have a giant reception when we all get back home?" Will was still recovering, nearly a year later, from the massive party the McHales threw for the newlyweds when they returned from their honeymoon. Mac's mother was known for her elaborate parties, and she held nothing back when it came to her only daughter's marriage.

"I'm only going to get to do this once," Helene McHale kept repeating, and the knowledge that her parents approved of Will, and that everyone was as convinced as she and Will were that this marriage was solid and real and one for the ages, made Mac want to cry just thinking about it.

It also made her agree to all of her mother's crazy demands, and before Mac knew it, they were inviting nearly 400 people to a reception at the Plaza.

It had been lovely, really, but after making the rounds and making small talk with hundreds of people, both Mac and Will were exhausted.

They had almost made it to the door when a voice stopped them.

"You're leaving your own reception early?" Jim had asked, and Mac had grabbed his arm and looked at him imploringly, a pout forming on her lovely face. Will knew that Jim was a goner, and wasn't surprised when Jim sighed. "Go." Mac had smiled, rocking forward to place a kiss on Jim's cheek.

"Thanks Jim," Will clapped Jim on the back as he followed his bride out into the warm, New York night.

"For Sloan's sake, I hope her parents skip the big reception," Mac says.

"I don't think anyone does a party like Helene McHale does a party," Will replies.

"No," Mac agrees with a smile. "Ugh, seriously though, next year let's relive our honeymoon and not our elopement. I've had enough Vegas I think." She slides out of the massive bed, grabbing her robe from the chair and slipping it on.

"Noted," Will says, stretching out and watching as Mac stumbles to the coffee maker in their suite. He thinks about getting up to help her make coffee, and decides it's more fun to watch her struggle.

"We're supposed to meet everyone for breakfast," Mac reminds him.

"Why did we agree to that?"

"I think we were drunk," Mac says. "Come on, husband. Let's go get breakfast with our friends out of the way and we can spend the rest of our first anniversary in this beautiful hotel suite. And if you get out of bed right now, you can come join me in the shower. It's very green, you know, saving water and all that."

"We're all about saving the planet, aren't we, Mrs. McAvoy?" Will climbs out of bed, moving towards his wife.

His wife. It's been a year, and it's still not old. It'll never be old.

The past year hadn't been perfect. There were rough patches. There were fights that left Will on the couch and Mac in tears; there were still trust issues and anger to get through, and that hadn't happened overnight.

But he loved this woman with every fiber of his being, and at the end of the day, that's all that really mattered.

"Every little bit helps," Mac shot back, the robe slipping from her shoulders and pooling at her feet. "You coming or not?"

"I'm definitely, definitely coming," Will replies, kissing her deeply and reaching behind her to turn on the water.

* * *

"We got married last night," Sloan says for what Mac has counted to be the sixth time in as many minutes. "I mean, we actually got _married_. Is this how you felt last year?"

"Yes. Only a little more panicked. After all, at least you and Don had been dating. Will and I went from tearing each other's heads off to tearing each other's clothes off in a matter of hours." Mac still had a feeling of wonder when she looked down at her hand and caught the engagement ring and the wedding ring that Will had placed there.

The engagement ring had caused some fights over the past few months. She was ashamed to admit that it made good ammunition in their fights, and the last time Will had finally yelled,

"I'll buy you a new goddamn ring! I'll buy you a _hundred_ new goddamn rings! If that ring makes you angry and upset every time you look at it, then we need to do something about that. I didn't return it! That's what you should take from the whole thing. I'm an idiot, and I've always been an idiot, but I fucking love you, Mac! And I always have."

Mac had thrown herself at her husband, placing a searing kiss on his mouth, and tangling her hands in his hair.

"I fucking love you too," she replied. "And I'm sorry. I don't want a new ring. I don't. I'm an idiot too sometimes." And that had been the end of that fight. Mac couldn't remember what it had started over, but it had ended with the two of them stumbling towards the bed.

"You aren't mad at us, right?" Sloan says suddenly, grabbing Mac's hand. "We're not stealing your thunder or anything? Ruining your anniversary weekend? This was supposed to be about you and Will, and Don and I went and made it about us."

"It's fine," Mac replies. "Honestly, we're so happy for you."

"Thanks," Sloan got a faraway look on her face, and glanced down at the ring on her finger in disbelief. Mac is sure she's had the same look on her own face more than once, and she knocks her shoulder into Sloan's.

"He better be taking you somewhere good for your honeymoon," Mac says with a smile.

"Hawaii," Sloan answers. "I'm not sure when he did it, but he booked us a flight and a hotel room. We figured since we're all the way on this side of the country already, we should probably just seize the opportunity."

"I am really happy for you, Sloan," Mac tells her sincerely, squeezing Sloan's hand.

"We're happy for you too," Sloan replies. "And I'm very sorry for the shots last night." Mac laughs, wrapping her arms around her friend and giving her a tight hug.

"You're forgiven, but only because it was your wedding day," Mac says. "Now, where did our husbands run off to?"

"Husbands," Sloan looks stunned, and Mac laughs again. "Do you ever get used to that word?"

"I'll let you know if it happens," Mac assures her, and glances back to see Will and Don coming in the door, Will extending his hand for Mac to take.

"I know you said that you're over Vegas," Will says as they walk a couple of steps behind Don and Sloan, "but I still think it's pretty magical." He picks up her hand and gently kisses her wedding ring, and she looks around at the bright city. She takes in the flashing lights and crowds of tourists, and she looks back at her husband and smiles.

"It has its perks," she admits. "Have I mentioned yet today how glad I am that you crashed our bachelorette weekend?"

"Not yet today," he replies, leaning down and kissing her.

"I love you, Will McAvoy," Mackenzie says with an absolute certainty.

"I love you, Mackenzie McAvoy," Will answers. Mac beams and gives him one more kiss before pulling on his hand to get him to catch up with Don and Sloan.


End file.
